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Calvin's father
Calvin's father, like many other characters in the strip, is a relatively down-to-earth and sensible character whose attitudes serve primarily as a foil for Calvin's outlandish behavior. Both parents go through the entire strip unnamed, except as "Mom" and "Dad", or such pet names as "hon" and "dear." Bill Watterson has never given Calvin's parents names "because as far as the strip is concerned, they are important only as Calvin's mom and dad." He first appeared in the first strip, though he was the only parent shown until a few days later, when Calvin's mother was introduced. Personality Calvin's father is generally mild-mannered and calm. He steadfastly believes in the value of hardwork and tries to instill this within his son via chores, to little success; he is often shown telling Calvin that certain things (often negative) "build character". He is patient to a degree, but gets annoyed with Calvin's antics faster than Calvin's mom does. Calvin's dad, however, has been shown to delight in using his position as "Dad" to make up ridiculous explanations to many of Calvin's difficult questions, such as where babies come from (telling Calvin there are assembly kits at Sears and K Mart) or the load limit for bridges. He is shown on occasion to have a cynical streak in regards to commercialism and new technology, preferring a quiet, simplistic lifestyle (Hobbes comments that "he's going into the future kicking and screaming"). Despite often being aggravated by his son, in some story arcs his gentler parental nature is revealed, showing that he truly loves and cares for Calvin by consoling him in times of crisis. Relationship with Calvin Calvin's behavior often causes his father annoyance, sometimes provoking him to yell at Calvin. In fact, Dad never wanted a kid in the first place - he wanted to buy a dachshund (this was said during an argument, however). Nevertheless, he sometimes gets out of the house, but when he and Mom hire Rosalyn to babysit Calvin, it's another story. He is sometimes regarded as being unloving towards his son, but in two "serious" story arcs (the Little Raccoon and the Binoculars), he consoles Calvin and holds his son while letting Calvin cry. Calvin's father was once put to the test when Calvin's mom fell sick and it was revealed he could not cook. Origins The actual image of Calvin's father is a self-portrait of Watterson himself, minus his (now) facial hair. Watterson has said that he identifies more with this character than with Calvin. The character is more closely based on Watterson's own father, who is also a patent attorney, and often told his family that unpleasant things "built character." Calvin's dad's name In the Tenth Anniversary Book, Bill Watterson said that he never named Calvin's parents, so Calvin's Dad most likely has no name at all, but here are some possibilities. * Calvin's mother once called his dad Socrates. Calvin's dad then said "I knew we'd made a mistake the moment I saw that little bologna loaf in the hospital bassinet" (talking about Calvin). Socrates was the name of a famous Greek philosopher, so this probably isn't Dad's name. * When Calvin was pretending to be a bug, we saw a close-up of a letter Calvin's Mom was writing that said "Glenn" on it. This could also be Calvin's dad's name, although that is low in probability. Glenn is much more likely to be one of Calvin's mom's relatives. * Also, another time when Calvin was pretending to be a fly, he flew over a piece of paper that said "Tom". * In addition, Calvin's mom called him "Buster;" however, she was probably using the word rather than a name. Category:Characters